Decorative neckless

ABSTRACT

A necklace that does not fully encircle the neck of the user but, instead, has its two free ends with an affixing device at each free end to attach to the straps of the wearers garment or undergarment, such as a bra. In the preferred embodiment, the straps have a plurality of affixing devices vertically spaced along the strap so as to enable the user to position the necklace at differing heights on the wearer to suit the particular neckline of the attire worn by the user. In addition, the affixation and removal of the necklace takes place at the front of the wearer and thus is more convenient and easier to carry out than the use of a clasp that is intended to be manipulated behind the neck of the wearer.

REFERENCE TO RELATED CASES

[0001] The present application is based upon U.S. Provisionalapplication Serial No. 60/378,853, filed May 8, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a decorative necklace or otherform of jewelry and, more particularly, to an item of jewelry that doesnot fully encircle the neck of the wearer but has its ends affixed tothe strap of a wearer's garment, such as an undergarment.

[0003] There are, of course, various types of necklaces used asdecorative attachments to a wearer and which are of a wide variety ofshapes and sizes to appeal to the wearer and/or to match the otherclothing being worn by the wearer. In particularly, however, if there isat least one common feature of all necklaces, it is the feature that thenecklace encircles the neck of the wearer. As such, with such necklaces,the position of the ornamental feature, if there is one, is directly intrhe front of the wearer and its exact location is somewhat constrainedby the clasp location and the length of the necklace itself. Inaddition, for some wearers, it is rather inconvenient to have to managethe clasp at the rear of the since many clasps are quite small anddifficult to manipulate to engage and disengage by the wearer of thenecklace.

[0004] Thus, it is sometimes necessary for the wearer of a necklace toseek the aid of another person to engage and disengage the clasp and,again, not only is that somewhat inconvenient but there are times thatno such addition person is available and the wearer is left alone tostruggle with the manipulation of the clasp without the ability toactually view the clasp in attempting to close the clasp to secure thenecklace in place about the neck of the wearer.

[0005] In addition, with the present necklaces that have their free endsjoined together with a clasp, the location of the necklace, and inparticular, the ornamental feature, is located at a fairly fixedposition at the front of he user's neck that is determined by theoverall length of the necklace. Thus, as the necklace encircles the neckof the wearer, the length of the necklace will automatically fix thelocation of the ornamental feature at a particular point at the front ofthe neck of the wearer and that location cannot be readily changed withthat type of necklace. As such, if the wearer desires the necklace andits ornamental feature to hang lower of higher than its normalpredetermined position due to a different neckline of a particulargarment, that fixed position cannot be readily be accomplished with theconventional necklace.

[0006] Illustrative of some prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,903 ofPorteous where there is a dental bib holder that has a means ofattaching free ends of a strap to a bib to locate that bib to the frontof a patient, however, the purpose of Porteous is entirely differentthan the preset invention and the bib is not adapted to be affixed tothe straps of a garment, such as an undergarment of a person. In U.S.Pat. No. 4,855,805 of Mason, there is a necklace that encircles theusers neck and which passes through a number of loops affixed to theusers garment, however, the necklace of the Mason patent still encirclesthe neck of the use and does not become affixed to the straps of agarment worn by the user.

[0007] Accordingly, it would be advantageous if there were another, moreconvenient means of affixing a necklace to a wearer and which could befastened in place without the need to manipulate some intricate claspbehind the neck of the user. It would also be advantageous for suchnecklace to have the ability and versatility to be easily moved withrespect to its conventional location on the wearer so that the locationof the front of the necklace, and, if present, the ornamental feature ofthe necklace, can be moved to and relocated at the desire of the user toa particularly advantageous decorative location on the wearer. Inaddition it would be a further advantage of the necklace to simplypresent a new look to the wearer as opposed to the convention necklaceand achieve a more presentable appearance of the necklace.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Now, in accordance with the present invention, there is provideda new and improved means of affixing a necklace about a wearer. In thepresent invention, the necklace comprises a necklace having free endsthat are affixed to the straps of a garment, preferable an undergarmentof that wearer. In the preferred embodiment, the necklace is affixed tothe bra straps of the wearer, however, as will be seen, the necklace canbe affixed to other straps such as a slip or other garment orundergarment.

[0009] As such, the necklace of the present invention has an affixingdevice on each of the free ends and which are then affixed to theparticular straps of the undergarment. By such devices, the necklace canbe affixed by the user in the front of that person and therefore, theaffixation is much easier and more readily facilitated by the userwithout any manipulation of a clasp located behind the neck of thewearer.

[0010] According, the present necklace is more readily affixed and wornby the user and, additionally, the height of the ornamental portion ofthe necklace of the necklace can be located at a desired location at thefront of the wearer's neck and not dictated by the particular length ofthe necklace as with the conventional necklaces. In addition, in thepreferred embodiment, the strap of the undergarment itself can havespecially constructed devices that enable the ready attachment of thefree ends of the necklace to the straps so that not only is theparticular necklace affixed in the front of the individual, but themeans of affixation itself is more convention to the wearer.

[0011] In the preferred embodiment, the devices that enable the easyaffixation on the straps may comprise a plurality of such devices toenable the easy affixation in a number of differing locations to enablethe user to select the location of the necklace to the front of theuser.

[0012] By means of the present necklace, the overall look of thenecklace is different than the conventional necklaces and thus presentsa new look of the necklace on the wearer that enhances the ornamentalvalue and appearance of the necklace.

[0013] These and other improvements and features of the presentinvention will become better understood from the detailed description ofthe preferred embodiment set forth below taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 is a front view of a bra having affixed thereto a necklacein accordance with the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of one means of affixing the free endsof the necklace of the present invention to the straps of the bra ofFIG. 1;

[0016]FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of an alternative means of affixing thenecklace to the straps of the bra of FIG. 1;

[0017]FIG. 4 is a further view of a bra with a still alternate means ofaffixing the necklace to the strap of a bra;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a front view of a wearer of a necklace affixed onto thewearer in accordance with the present invention;

[0019] FIGS. 6-8 are front views of an embodiment of the presentinvention as well as enlarged views of a affixation to the strap of agarment of the wearer; and

[0020]FIG. 9 is a front view of an alternate clasp usable with thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a front view of a bra 10having a pair of straps 12, 14 as is generally conventional. A necklace16 made in accordance with the present invention has its two free ends18, 20 affixed to each of the bra straps 12, 14. Each of the bra straps12 and 14 have means to facilitate the affixation of each of the freeends 18, 20 to the bra straps 12, 14, respectively. In the Figure, thereare differing mean of carrying out that affixation on each of the straps12, 14 that are shown for illustration purposes only, as any number ofdiffering means may be employed to carry out the attaching of the freeends 18, 20 to the bra straps 12, 14.

[0022] Thus, in FIG. 2, there is shown an enlarged front view of onemeans of affixing the free end 18 of the necklace to the bra strap 12and, as can be seen, there is a hook 22 at the free end 18 that isattached to a closed link 24 affixed to the bra strap 12. Thus, byhaving a plurality of links 24 located on the bra strap 12 allows thehook 22 to be attached to any of the links 24 selected by the wearerand, accordingly, the wearer can affix the free end 18 of the necklace16 at any one of the links 24 so that the location of the necklace canbe selected by the wearer as desired to position the ornamental portionof the necklace 16 in the most desirable position, that is, if thewearer has a lower neckline, the free end 18 of the necklace 17 can beaffixed to a lower positioned link 24 to allow the necklace 16 to beworn lower at the front of the neck of the wearer.

[0023] Conversely, of course, the wearer can just as easily attach thefree end 18 of the necklace 16 to an upper situated link 24 so that thenecklace 16 can be worn higher on the neck of the user to match whateverneckline is being worn by the wearer. Accordingly, as can be seen by thepresent invention, the location of the necklace 16 of the wearer caneasily and without any difficulty, be worn at any one of many desiredlocations on the user and just as easily be adjusted as desired.

[0024] In FIG. 3, there is another enlarged front view illustrating afurther means of attaching the free end 20 of the necklace 16 to the brastrap 14. In this embodiment, there is a plurality of loops 26 formed inthe bra strap 14 and again the free end 18 of the bra strap 14 has ahook 22 that can easily be affixed to the loops 26 at whatever loop 26that is desired by the wearer depending upon the height desired for thenecklace 16 along the front of the neck of the wearer.

[0025] Turning next to FIG. 4, there is a front view of a bra 10 havinga necklace 16 affixed thereto and in this Fig., the affixing meanscomprises a plurality of buttons 26 sewn to the straps 28 of the bra 10that allows the affixing means, such as small rings 28 at the end of thefree ends 30 of the necklace 16 so that, again, the free ends 30 of thenecklace 16 can be easily adjusted to any pair of buttons 26 desired bythe wearer depending upon the location desired by the wearer on the neckof the user.

[0026] Turning now to FIG. 5, there is shown a front view of a necklace16 in position at the throat of a wearer and, as can be seen, thenecklace 16 can be worn low, as shown, or can be repositioned to anyparticular location of the throat desired by the user.

[0027] Next, turning to FIGS. 6-8, there is shown a further embodimentof the subject invention and where the bra strap 14 includes a pluralityof garment loops 28 that are of the type that are sewn to the materialof the bra strap 14. As can be seen in this embodiment, the garmentloops are thus sewn to the bra strap 14 at predetermined intervals andthe ends of the necklace 16 include hooks 30 that can be readily affixedto any of the desired garment loops 28 to secure that necklace to thewearer.

[0028] Finally in FIG. 9, taken along with FIGS. 1-8, there is a frontview of a stylized clasp or slide 30 that can be wrapped around thestrap of a bra or other undergarment, and which has a serpentineconfiguration that surrounds the strap and yet is available to attachthe hooks 22, FIGS. 2 and 3, to affix the necklace 16 in position at theneck of the wearer.

[0029] While the preferred embodiments have been described andillustrated, various modifications and substitutions may be made withoutdeparting, from the scope and spirit of this invention. It is to beunderstood, therefore, that the present invention has been described byway of illustration and not limitation.

I claim:
 1. A decorative article to be worn by a person having a garmentwith straps extending in the area of a neck of a person, said decorativearticle comprising a necklace having two free ends, said free endshaving a affixing means located thereon adapted to be affixed to thestraps of the garment.
 2. A decorative article as defined in claim 1wherein said affixing means is a hook.
 3. A decorative article asdefined in claim 1 wherein said affixing means is a ring.
 4. Adecorative article as defined in claim 1 wherein said affixing means isa serpentine wraparound slide.
 5. A decorative article as defined inclaim 1 wherein the garment is an undergarment.
 6. A decorative articleas defined in claim 5 wherein the undergarment is a brassiere.
 7. Anecklace to be worn by a person wearing a garment having straps that arelocated over the shoulder of the person, said necklace having free ends,an affixation device located at each of the free ends of the necklace,each of said affixation devices adapted to be affixed to a strap of agarment.
 8. A necklace as defined in claim 6 wherein said necklace hasan ornament adapted to be located at the front of the wearer.
 9. Acombination of a garment adapted to be worn by a wearer and a necklace,the combination comprising: a garment having straps adapted to be wornby the wearer at the shoulders of the wearer; a necklace having freeends, an affixation device located at each of the free ends of thenecklace, each of said affixation devices adapted to be affixed to thestraps of the garment.
 10. A combination as defined in claim 9 whereinthe straps of the garment have at least one securing device on eachstrap to facility the affixing of the affixation device to each of thestraps.
 11. A combination as defined in claim 9 wherein each of thestraps has a plurality of securing devices spaced apart along each ofthe straps.
 12. A combination as defined in claim 9 wherein said atleast one securing device is a loop.
 13. A combination as defined inclaim 9 wherein said at least one securing device is a button.
 14. Acombination as defined in claim 11 wherein said plurality of securingdevices comprise loops.
 15. A combination as defined in claim 11 whereinsaid plurality of securing devices comprise buttons.
 16. A method ofaffixing a necklace to a person wearing a garment having straps, saidmethod comprising the steps of: providing a necklace having free endswith affixation devices at each of the free ends, placing the necklaceproximate to the throat of a person, affixing the free ends of thenecklace to the straps of the garment being worn by a person.
 17. Amethod as defined in claim 16 wherein said step of providing a necklacecomprises providing a necklace having affixation devices that are hooks.18. A method as defined in claim 16 wherein said step of providing anecklace comprises providing a necklace having affixation devices thatare rings.
 19. A method as defined in claim 16 wherein said step ofproviding a necklace comprises providing a necklace having plurality ofaffixation devices spaced vertically apart.